The Emirates Fleet

With an average aircraft age of just over six years, Emirates has one of the youngest fleets of any airline

No other area of our organisation provides as large an opportunity to reduce our environmental impact as fuel efficiency, measured in how much fuel is burned to carry a defined number of passengers or a defined weight over a certain distance. An airline’s fuel efficiency is affected by a number of factors, including technology such as aircraft and engine type, maintenance processes such as engine washing, and operational practices such as cruise climbs. Various weight-saving measures such as lightweight cargo containers also play an important role.

Our policy is to invest in the most modern, eco-efficient technology available – in aircraft, engines and ground equipment. This investment in new technology has given us one of the youngest fleets in the industry – just over 6 years on average – and a corresponding strong performance on fuel efficiency.

Emirates’ investment in new aircraft also means our fleet is becoming increasingly quieter. Our A380s are among the quietest large aircraft available, and were designed to meet strict requirements at some of the world’s most noise-sensitive airports. Our fleet is fully compliant with ICAO Chapter 4 noise standards (excluding a small number of wet-leased freighters), and the fleet’s overall margin below ICAO regulatory limits has been growing as a result of deliveries of new, quieter aircraft and the retirement of older, noisier aircraft.

Airbus A380
We were the first airline to place an order for this quiet and efficient twin-deck, and are now the largest operator of the type.

Emirates A380 Environmental Facts:

Larger aircraft mean fewer take-offs and landings to carry the same number of passengers as smaller aircraft on the same route.

The Emirates A380 uses a range of lightweight materials that account for 25% of its structure.

The A380 is one of the quietest large aircraft, and was designed to meet the strictest airport noise requirements. Emirates has performed highly in the London Heathrow Airport Fly Quiet noise rankings as a result.

The Emirates fleet, including A380s, has over 14% better fuel efficiency than the IATA global fleet average (as measured in 2013).

We continue to work closely with Airbus to further reduce the weight and enhance the fuel efficiency of future A380s.

Boeing 777
Aircraft from the Boeing 777 family are the workhorses of our fleet, and we are the largest operator of the long-range, wide-body aircraft. One variant, the Boeing 777-200LR, holds the world record for the longest non-stop distance ever travelled by a commercial aircraft, achieved on a 22-hour and 42-minute flight from Hong Kong to London.

More than 115 of our Boeing 777s are powered by the General Electric GE90 engine - the biggest jet engine in the world. The GE90 has one of the highest bypass ratios (9:1) in the industry, which means that for every 1 kg of air used to burn fuel in the engine core, 9 kg of air are passed through the fan to provide propulsion. This helps to make it a very fuel efficient engine.

The next generation of Boeing 777s – the 777X – will bring a range of design innovations and new engines to drive greater enhancements in fuel efficiency and noise performance. Emirates placed an order for 150 Boeing 777Xs at the Dubai Air Show in November 2013, laying the foundation for the next phase of our investment in efficiency and environmental performance.